You're Worth It
by PatatoGirl
Summary: The mom's and the kids are out for the night, leaving Brandon and Callie to their own devices... but what happens when a guitar string snaps and light is shed on some not-so-hidden feelings? Will Brandon get Callie to realise that even with the secrets, the sneaking around, and the getting caught... that she's worth it?
1. You're Worth It

**Hey! So I'm complete obsessed with The Fosters and I felt inspired to write this story… so I did!**

"Hey Brandon?" I called from the dining room, staring down that wicked string that had popped out-of-place during tuning.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could help me with this string?" I grumbled as I tried to fashion it into another knob, "I accidentally snapped it, and this isn't exactly something... oh, I don't know, spent years in lessons actually doing?"

I could hear him chuckling at my pathetic situation as he finished drying the dishes in the kitchen, "Sure, do you mind going up to my room and grabbing a string from the desk?"

"No, that's cool, which drawer?" I answered hastily, wanting to get our guitar lesson started as quickly as possible.

"Second from the top on the left hand side" he called back.

I hurried up the stairs and shot him a smile as I went past.

As I walked in his room I could see evidence his obvious obsession with musical instruments, there were a stack of piano sheet music laying across from his keyboard and his 'book shelf' was stacked end to end with harmonicas, tambourines and their corresponding instruction booklets.

I quickly spotted his desk and I was astounded by the state of it, on my other visits to his room it had been neatly piled with school text books and his latest English reading material, but today the text books were strewn across his Acer laptop and his favorite edition of To Kill A Mockingbird- trust me, he had many copies - was hanging of one of the arm-rests on the swivel chair.

I looked beneath the ruffled exterior of the desk and started looking for the desk drawer which had the guitar strings.

That's when I hit a bit of a bump in the road… I couldn't remember which drawer he said it was in.

I racked my mind for the information he had told me just minutes before but I was coming up blank, maybe if I just searched through the drawers one by one then it would turn up!

I mentally slapped myself, what if he saw me going through his stuff? Brandon was always pretty possessive of his room, which is probably why Jude stayed with Jesus. Well, that and because Jesus's room was the only one that could fit another bed.

Okay, let's start on the right hand side: drawer numero uno.

I slid open the creaking block of oak and I felt disappointed to find only a measly notebook and some never used stationery.

The same thing went for almost every drawer on the right side, everything filled with useless rubble and I hadn't even opened the fourth drawer!

I bent down, but decided that it would just be easier if I just sat crossed-legged on the carpet; my back was killing me from bending down for every other drawer.

I slid it open; to find that it was jam-packed with enveloped that resembles the casings of guitar strings. I punched a fist into the air, thinking I was successful in my attempt. I rummaged through it but then took a better look at the envelopes.

Unlike the usual guitar string casings, they were plain white, not color coded like I was used to seeing in his little heaven. They were still the weird square shape, but I couldn't feel the wire strings beneath the paper. I felt a shifting of some sort when I rattled the envelope around, and it wasn't sealed so I opened the object, becoming a bit frustrated with the delaying of my lesson.

As I opened it, I saw the colorful glossy outline of a photograph. It felt slightly intrusive but my curiosity got the better of me and I slid the photo out of its packet.

A gust of air seemed to escape my mouth as I looked at the picture. It was Brandon and me, we were both covered in flour and laughing at Jesus, who was half cut off, but you could still clearly see the snapped skateboard dangling over his foot.

I turned the picture over, and found a date written on the back: 20/07/14- Pizza Night.

Giggling, I put the picture face down on the floor, and reached for the next picture in the envelope.

I stopped breathing altogether, as I saw the doting eyes upon my pixelated self, it was me sleeping, slumped against Brandon. Even I could remember the night this was taken, it was movie night, two weeks after Brandon had dumped Talya.

The rest of the Fosters and Jude were in the picture too, but it was clear that the main focus was Brandon and I, he stared down at me, adoration gleaming in his eyes and I couldn't help but wistfully think that he may feel something for me.

"Callie?" the soft voice interrupted me from my thinking.

"Brandon!" I screeched, reaching to tuck the photos back and shove them into the desk.

"What were you doing looking at my photos?" he questioned me suspiciously.

"I didn't- I mean, I did, but I thought that they were your- I'm sorry, I forgot which drawer and I found these and-"he pulled me up from the ground.

We stood toe to toe in his room, and I warily looked up into his eyes and saw that same adoration that I had seen in the picture.

Brandon, perfect, idolized, Brandon. He was my dream guy, he paid attention to me, he treated Jude as if he was his real brother and he was genuinely nice.

Maybe that adoration went further than just a sisterly love, I sure hope it did, because what I was about to do next sure went further than 'sisterly adoration'.

I kissed him.

I held my lips against his for a few daunting seconds but then pulled back, mortified by my actions. My jaw hung open like a goldfish and I was paralyzed in every inch of my body. Only the ticking of a clock could be heard in the embarrassing silence.

As what felt like concrete slowly seemed to removed itself from my feet, I turned around with the intent of going and hiding in my bed for the rest of a millennia. But he grabbed me by the elbow, spinning me around and slamming his lips against mine, they meshed together in sync as I wrapped my arms around his neck and his encircled my waist.

"Are you ok with this?" he asked me between kisses, his concern for me was endearing.

"More than ok" I replied, we both seemed to understand that- for now- this was going nowhere beyond kissing. That would make things far too complicated.

After what seemed like mere seconds - but was actually minutes - we broke apart, lips swollen and gasping for air, I couldn't concentrate on anything but the lack of space between us, it was unnerving how close our bodies were, and I prayed that he couldn't hear my heart pounding from inside my chest.

"Wow" he muttered from under his breath, ironically just what I was thinking.

It struck me how completely stupid and childish this was, just this alone could get Jude and me sent back to another foster home, and this was the first one that he had ever liked, and hadn't had to deal with bullying, or abuse or see me go through the same thing.

"Oh my god!" I said, mostly to myself, "What have I done? Brandon, I'm sorry, I know that we cant do this…"

I ran out of his room, and made my way downstairs, flinging open the front door and sprinting outside and into the pouring rain, wandering down the street until I sat down on a bus stop bench.

He had followed me out and I could see him sit down next to me.

"I shouldn't have put you in this position" I chastised myself while trying to form an apology, "the rules on this are written in stone, it wasn't fair of me to do that"

He stared at me, confusion clouding in his hazel eyes, but soon the inevitable realization dawned on him.

"Foster siblings are strictly prohibited to engage in any sort of romantic entanglement" he recited monotonously. Disappointment was plain on both of our faces but he listed my chin up defiantly, his eyes bore into mine, as if he were claiming them as his own.

"Callie, I'm not going to give you up because the system says so, haven't you always said I never get in trouble because I never do anything wrong?" I nodded. "It's because nothing was ever worth it! Callie, you are something worth getting in trouble for, you're worth it!" He whispered to me, still holding my gaze.

"What are you saying?" I asked, completely and utterly disbelieving that he was talking about what I thought he was talking about.

"I'm saying, Callie, that this could be between us, I can't let you go now, I can't even deal with the mere idea that I might have to walk around every day hiding what's between us, but that's better than the alternative, which is not being with you at all."

Tears swelled up in my eyes, this was too good to be true, somebody who wanted me for everything that I am, somebody who still wanted me even with Jude and my parole.

But could I really do this to him? Make him lie to his parents, his brother, his sister and put him at risk of getting in to serious trouble with the law. Not to mention that both his parents were cops!

"Please Callie?" his begging broke through me, and although sneaking around and hiding our relationship seemed like a pretty shady and stupid thing to do, especially in our situation, I don't think that I could deal with the alternative either.

"Yes" I whispered, kissing him gently on the lips.

"Yes?" he muttered into the kiss, ensuring that I wasn't going to change my mind.

"Yes!" he shouted picking me up and spinning me around, clutched in one of his massive bear hugs that I had become used to getting.

I laughed the best I could, all the happiness in the room wasn't something that I experienced very often, and it was a nice break from the constant worrying.

"I should probably get to bed, before your parents get home"

He frowned at me, "didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"There's a rainstorm up north where they are, they can't make it back till tomorrow morning, at the earliest" he clasped my hands in his pulling me closer, "so what do you say? Will you stay the night?"

**Thanks for reading! To Be Continued...**


	2. Singing in the Rain

**OMG I just saw Hayden Byerly (the boy who plays Jude) in an Oscar Mayer's hot dog commercial :) It's so funny! And thanks for the support! You guys are amazing!**

"I should probably sleep in my bed…" She furrowed her brow and bit on her lip. "If your parents catch us…"

"C'mon Callie, lets enjoy the time that we have left before we have to start hiding this".

I could see the war waging in her head, each little battle of good and bad were ready for action. But I wouldn't let her shy away from her feelings when I had just gotten her to admit them.

She stood there in the rain, deciphering her thoughts, when I realised that we were both soaked to the bone, as if we were Don Lockwood in Singing in the Rain.

"Let's go in so long, ok?" I wrapped my arm around her waist and tugged her in the direction. "We should get dry"

She nodded and let me pull her along, curling into my side, trying to stay warm.

We reached the front door and I pushed it open. "Wait!" I said as I saw Callie about to enter the house, I pulled her close once again and swung her over my shoulder.

She squealed at me and started lightly pounding her fists against my back "Brandon!" she wailed, "Let me go!"

"Nope, you'll get the floors all wet!" I retaliated, but was mostly distracted at how light she was, I knew that she didn't eat much, but surly this wasn't a healthy weight. I tried to get my joking manner back, "You, young missus, are taking a shower; you're starting to smell like wet dog!"

She gasped at me, "well Brandon that is no way to talk to a lady! Your mothers would be appalled at you!" she tried her best to create an air of aristocracy around her, which didn't exactly work as I was carrying her up the stars, her head bouncing against my back with each step.

We laughed together until we reached the bathroom, where I set her down and turned to walk away.

"Hey" she called out after me, "where are you going?"

I spun around so fast I got whiplash. "What do you mean?"

"Well" she said, fiddling with the edge of her shirt, "I was thinking that you could join me…"

As soon as the words left her mouth I could see the anxiousness in her eyes, awaiting my answer. All I could manage was a near imperceptible nod.

Was she really doing this? Inviting me to shower with her?

My silent question was answered by the smile tugging at the edges of her sultry mouth.

She held out her hand and grasped it in mine, and bit her lip. Just those soft delicate lips could make me go crazy, as they had in the past, which is how I knew that the only remedy for a mad-man was to kiss those lips.

So I did.

We treaded across the hard tile of the bathroom floor, slamming the door shut on our way. We shed our clothes until we were bare, and I pushed the curtain to the side so we could walk in. We were showering in a state of bliss, our little illusion that if Callie and I could just keep that shower curtain closed, we could be together without any discipline for our actions.

I skimmed my hand over the shadows of her ribs, so clearly jutting out on her frail figure.

"Callie" I whispered to her, she stared up at me, eyes full of tears, knees clanging together wreaked in nerves. "Are you ok?"

Tears kept pouring down her face, and she hugged me around the stomach, where I could feel the vibrations of her sobbing against me.

"Callie, Callie?" I pulled her head upwards to look at me, "What's wrong?"

She let out a choked laugh and smiled at me, "God, my mom would have loved you"

"What happened to her?" Callie had never mentioned her mom, either of her parents actually.

Her face instantly sobered up, and I regretted my words that took away that rare smile. "Well, I don't know, one day Jude and I came home and she was dead in the shower"

The bluntness of her words sunk in, and I could only feel horror at what a traumatic experience that must have been.

"After that, I just couldn't concentrate on anything, I skipped school, did loads of really stupid things…" she laughed silently, "And you know the stupidest thing? I'm still afraid to go in the shower!"

I had to crack a smile at that, Callie? Callie… afraid of something? That was something that I never expected her to admit.

I knew that she could get scared, I saw her eyes when we were in that house with Jude, but I never had even dreamed that she would confide in me like this, just her trust was a massive warning signal for me, for me not to blow it.

"Are you afraid now?" I tenderly bent her neck backwards and kissed her pulse point. " Because I don't want you to ever be afraid again."

"What, so you're going to shower with me every other day?" she shook her head in exasperation, "Brandon, its irrational, there's nothing to protect me from in a shower"

That wasn't something to discuss, I don't give a crap about Talya and the backwards ideas about popularity and privacy. Talya wasn't my girlfriend anymore; she was just some bitch who had the same friends as me.

"Bull, Callie. I'm not going to let you be afraid of anything, that's what a boyfriend is supposed to do"

"Boyfriend?" she tilted her head, allowing me further access to her neck.

"Yes, boyfriend", I mumbled against her skin, "And you know what else boyfriends do?"

"What?" she smirked at my antics

"They feed you endless amounts of bacon and eggs until you're so fat that you look pregnant!" She quirked an eyebrow at me and burst into giggles. God I loved this girl. Wait, loved?

Callie recovered from her fit of laughter and started inching towards the shower curtain.

"Well okay then, boyfriend, we should probably dry off and get ready for bed, before you get me so fat that I can't fit into my pyjamas"

Still inching towards the curtain she started to slide it open, "Dibs on the last towel!" she shouted and I cussed at her.

Leaping out of the shower after her I tried to get the towel without slipping but she wrestled it out of my grip and wrapped it around her body quickly, she stuck her tongue out at me and turned around, headed towards the door.

"C'mon Callie! I'm cold!" she laughed at me

"You snooze you lose Brandon!" with that she gave me a little wave and flung open the door and stepped out.

Both of our eyes widened in shock. I was the first one to speak.

"Oh hey Jesus"


	3. Ever Heard of Humility?

**This is a little author note to thank my reviewers! Y'all are so amazing and I hope you stick with me till the end (trust me, it could be a while)!**

**hannah, Guest, Guest, Gabe, Guest, BritBrallieLuvr, ERMAGERD, Brandi, Guest, AHHH AMAZING,** **BrallieLuver, brallielover15, BrandonsNxtGF, BowlingforPendingPeace, California2019, Willow Foster, ariah23, FraziskaBlue, Rawr Olivia Grace, TheMysteriousBeauty, Sweettface, HPMudBlood, BHAvanna331, MBFL, Abboutthefosters and 81purplehearts!**

**Sorry about the delay in the posting of this chapter, but apparently Korean business men at a BBQ need a lot of drinks to be served! Enjoy!**

I stared at Jesus in horror as he looked me up and down, his skate board falling to the ground with a clank.

"Oh hey Jesus…" Brandon said from behind me.

He looked at Brandon, eyes filled with horror at the sight of his brother standing in the nude behind me, but a tiny bit of thankfulness that Brandon was close enough behind me that he couldn't see anything… too revealing.

Jesus backed away slowly, murmuring to himself, "Ok, I fell of my skate board and hit my head on the sidewalk", seeming to approve of his own explanation, he squeezed his eyes shut and started counting, "Uno, dos, tres!"

He opened his eyes and threw his hands in the air, but seeing us again, they dropped back to his sides.

"Holy shit! Brandon? What the hell are you doing man?" he shouted at us

"What am I doing?" Brandon retaliated "What the hell are you doing? You weren't supposed to be back till tomorrow!"

"I didn't go that poetry thing man! I've been at school, had a late detention!"

We all stood there awkwardly, Jesus staring at us both with exasperation in his eyes, Brandon barely covered my small stature, and me acting as the Wall of China between the two.

"So, you two are together now?" he asked, bending down to pick up a skateboard.

I remembered the word that he described me with earlier. Fuzzy warmth filled my stomach and I knew that this guy was different from Liam.

"Yeah" I replied, turning back around, "He's my boyfriend"

I felt Brandon move closer and wrap his arms around my waist. They felt so natural there, as if they were a part of me that had been missing for so long.

I leaned my head back against his chest and I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face. I used my hand to secure the towel that hung dangerously loose, the other one snaked around Brandon's forearm.

Without a second glance at Jesus, I allowed Brandon to spin me around to face him, seeing the same slightly arrogant smile on his face. The perfect mirror of mine,

He took my lips in his, and oblivion washed over us once again, as if we were alone in the shower as we had been minutes before.

Wrapped in our own different world, Brandon lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"Excuse me?", Jesus put his hand in the air, as if waiting to ask a question, "You realise I'm still here? Right?"

We broke apart with a sigh and I was dropped on my feet once again. "Ok, Jesus, give us a second to get dressed and we'll talk about this downstairs"

My voice was strong an definitive, unlike my heart beat, which was pounding ferociously within my chest, as I tried to tell myself that Jesus was trustworthy, not because of his alliance with me but with me, but because he loved his brother too much to let him hurt.

He responded to my order by huffing and stomping down the stairs.

"You have got to be kidding me guys!" Jesus yelled at us, "Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get in?"

Brandon and I sat on the couch; I was tucked under his arm while trying my hardest not to shed any tears.

"Jesus!" Brandon shouted back at him, "I know how bad this is could be for us, ok?"

He looked at me, eyes full of emothion, "We didn't mean for this to happen, but we knew it was coming for a while and ever since I finally got rid of Talya-"

"Wait?" Jesus put out a hand to stop us, "You broke up with Talya?"

"Well no shit Sherlock! What did you think?" Brandon looked about ready to murder his brother" That I would cheat on my girlfriend?"

"No, I just… Well, you never said that, so I wasn't sure!"

"Well, we aren't together anymore, Callie and I are."

"So are you going to let us explain?" I said, finally breaking into the intimidating silence.

Jesus stopped his pacing and sat down on the sofa across from us, he motioned me to continue with a swift nod of the head.

"Remember when I was shouting at you sister for reading my journal?"

He nodded.

"Well, it turns out that it was Talya; eventually Brandon found out and he ended things." I paused, uncertain of how to continue, "Then tonight, we kind of… well we just, happened, I guess."

Jesus looked at us in disbelief, "do you guys even understand what could happen because of this? Our Moms are going to freak out, and what about Jude, Callie?"

I stopped trying to hold back the tears and the sobbing commenced; Brandon's t-shirt now covered in stains. "Bro, just listen for a sec, we understand how screwed we are right now, but we just need you to keep this a secret ok? Nobody can know about this."

Once again pacing the room, he tugged on the ends of his hair with his hands, a nervous habit I could remember noticing when I had first arrived.

"Why are you guys doing this to me!" she groaned, "I cannot handle this stress!"

I sniggered a bit, through all the tears, and even Brandon had to laugh at the Latinos over-exaggeration.

"Please Jesus" Brandon begged, "we'll do you chores for a month, just please don't tell mom's yet"

"Haven't you ever heard of humility?" he asked us

"I' surprised you've even heard of it" Brandon replied honestly.

"Well, timothy told me about it today, and I think that this is when I'm supposed to use it."

He went over into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl; after that disappearing from sight.

"So I guess were safe, for now" I leaned into him suggestively.

"I guess we are…" he moved closer to me and our lips were millimetres apart.

Suddenly Jesus burst back into the living room.

"One last thing, no more bathroom sex, please. I have to use that shower!"


	4. Somebody Heard Him

**Wow, this chapter is late! I am so sorry guys, I've had a mega busy week with the worst luck (I broke my computer, lost my iPod and broke my phone screen) and I have been grappling over the concept of this chapter, which is told from 3****rd**** person POV. (It is a bit contrasting to the previous chapters … but let's just roll with it!)**

_Two days later…_

"Hey B!" Stef called upstairs to her biological son, "We have to go now!"

Callie came down the stairs first, as expected. She and Brandon came up with a plan so it always appeared as if they were in different places. From the looks they got from the two moms, it wasn't working. Probable cause was that the two of them were too damn oblivious to the rest of the world, and that they were often caught off guard, far too easily as well.

The first incident happened the day after the 'sex in the bathroom' run-in. Callie was sleeping in Brandon's bed when his cop-of-a-mom stumbled through his bedroom door after the road trip, back from the reading, without 27 hours of sleep, resulting in impaired speech, hearing and sight.

Callie was lying closest to the wall on the bed, Brandon spooning her from behind, when he was shaken awake by his mom.

"Brandon" she fumbled and slurred her words, "We going to sleep… Were going sleep… We are going to sleep"

His entire body tensed under the sheets as he lifted them a bit higher, so that Callie's head was covered.

"Yeah, ok mom, see you at lunch"

"Uh!" she walked through the doorway, "All my babies growing up!"

Shortly after he heard the cussing of his mom slamming into the banister then falling and the pitter-patter of Jude's footsteps running to help her up.

"Thank you Jude" she hugged the small boy close.

"Sure Stef" Jude helped her up and guided her in the direction of her and Lena's room, "you ok?"

"No, baby." She lay down in her bed and nestled into the pillows, "I never want to drive again"

He laughed at her antics and walked over to his bedroom, then fell asleep, not at all enlightened from four hours packed full of confusing rhymes.

Jude walked across to the room he shared with Jesus, but just as he crossed the threshold, he decided to see if Callie was alright first. He knew that she got a bit uneasy when she was alone in the house with a boy, ever since Liam, anyways.

He tapped on the door, cautious of Marianas privacy wishes. Hearing the girl's light snores, he decided to risk it and walked in. In the dim light, he found it hard to see, but the boy walked over to the space where he knew his sisters' bed was, and sat on the end of it.

"Callie?" he whispered, "You still awake?"

The absence of a reply was enough for Jude to start patting around the area of the bed, and keep patting, and patting more, until he finally confirmed that she wasn't in her bed.

Worst case scenarios flooded his mind, had Callie run away? Did something happen to her?

He ran back to his and Jesus' room, contemplating his next move. Should he wake someone up? It was nearly four in the morning though, and everyone had just fallen asleep.

He decided on waking Lena up, she always seemed to have a cool head about things… well, except for the 'birth control' incident. But he was on her side for that one; never would he give meds to someone else's kid. He'd already been someone's drug mule once, and Callie swore it wouldn't happen again.

He wondered into the hallway looking for Callie, deciding that Lena could probably use her sleep, and after circulating around the bedrooms, he finally heard the irregular pattern of her breathing that calmed him so much.

It was coming from Brandon's room, the ultimate forbidden territory to the boy's sister. Giving up on all hope of having a good night's sleep, he ventured into the teenager's room, careful not to step on any instruments or sheet music.

He ran over to the bed and searched wildly for Callie, but all he saw was Brandon, who he wasn't aware was awake.

"Callie?" the brunettes franticness nearly made Brandon leap out of the bed to console him, but decided against it, because if he moved even an inch, Callie would be revealed and Jude would be wrapped up in a mess that was way out of his league.

Brandon let the boy whisper and pace until he heard the click of the door, signalling that it was safe to move.

So he moved into the safest position possible, his arms wrapped around Callie, spooning her from behind.

At peace, he finally decided that he could speak his mind.

"Callie" he murmured to her, though to the naked eye, it would seem that he was talking to himself. "You frustrate the hell out of me and I never feel like I'm good enough for you"

He brought her tighter to him.

"But even then, I can't let you go, because I know that I've got a good thing, here, with you, and I'm not going to let go of it." He wished that she could hear him, "and every time that I look at you and I see that you don't think that _you're_ good enough. It makes me feel like such a massive prick that I can't make you see yourself the way that I see you"

His eyed blurred over and sleep was grasping him, but before it could take him, he whispered one last thing.

"God dammit Callie, I think I love you."

If only he knew that in this incident, somebody had heard him.

**Ok, so I feel that I've brought up one or two topics that I will touch on at some point, especially the stuff involved with Jude.**

**But unfortunately, I will only be posting one or two more chapters before I'm on a massive holiday/work trip that I will probably not have internet access on. So, I will take my laptop with me and work my ass off to write up a bunch of new chapters, and will post around two a week as soon as possible. That's a promise. But if you guys keep motivating me like you do now, I will steal a frickin satellite to get this story to you!**


	5. Something On Your Face!

**Well, here you are guys! Enjoy this one, because you're going to have to be patient for a month (hopefully less) until I'm back in a Wi-Fi Zone! If I am super lucky, I will have internet in the cabin I'm staying in, so everybody cross your fingers!**

**But I want to give a massive thank you to the warm and welcoming readers of this story, y'all are amazing and you make me want to update every day! I mean 67 reviews on this story, for only four chapters?! Like I said, at least two chapters a week after I get back… just don't tell my boss that this is what I use my work-laptop for…**

When we sat down for breakfast there was an eerie chill going around the table. Jude was preoccupied with his new toy from Connor, and paying little attention to anything other than the shiny toy, and the absence of arguing from the twins aided his introvert behavior as a touch of frostbite. The warmth of conversation was gone, and the coffee pot was sitting in its corner, silent, not brewing that horrible crap that Callie and my mom's like it, which left a void in the less caffeinated atmosphere.

Living in the same kind of environment since you were six was comforting, that's the only way to describe it. Routine was followed as usual, and even though there were the times of rough and tumbles… like my mom getting full custody over me, and like when Lena had her first major falling out with my dad Mike… well, despite all that, nobody ever went to bed angry.

But the kitchen felt angry, not the sparks flying in every direction and dust getting kicked into your face angry, but rather the harsh sound of hitting the wrong chord. That was out of the routine.

And the routine never skipped a beat, not with my parent's divorce, not with mom and Lena getting together, not with the adoption of the twins, not even with Callie, and then eventually Jude.

So the question begged: What's wrong?

Callie and I slyly glanced at each other, both feeling the scrutiny upon us.

No verbal communication was needed; you could just study the lines on her face and read a sentence like she was a novel. For the first time I realised that she had become an open book to me, just as she always was with Jude. I don't know if she heard what I said last night, and part of me hoped she didn't, Callie is too fragile to deal with any strong emotions now. Even I could tell that.

_Earlier that day…_

_When I woke up with her in my arms, I couldn't believe my eyes. Her hair was tossed across her check and her lips upturned in a content smirk, which made my heart flutter in a way that Talya never even begun to match._

_The moment was perfect, slightly stalker-ish, but my ideal definition of perfect._

"_Brandon", Shit. She was awake? "Stop staring at me… please."_

_Her eyes cracked open and her questioning glance jabbed an answer out of me._

"_Uh… Sorry, I was just... you have something on your face!" I nearly slapped myself at that moment, really? You have something on your face? Wasn't that like the opening line to every bad -yet romantically cheesy- kiss in the movies? _

_I'm never going to hear the end of this... "Something… on my face?" even Callie wasn't convinced with my attempt to weasel my way out of a really dim-witted staring contest between me and her- apparently not-so-unknowing –face._

"_So how many girls have you used that line on?" her head bobbed up and down, her little quirk that let me knows she was poking fun at me._

"_None, c'mon Callie, do you really think I would ever use that line?"_

"_Oh really? So what's on my face?"_

"_Ok, so I may have used it on one or two girls…"_

"_That's what I thought "She smiled brightly at me, while I faked a pout._

_Her tinkling laugh danced through the air and she pecked me on the lips lightly, turning it into a smirk._

_We turned on our backs and looped our hands together, as I suddenly remembered a very important detail about last night. _

"_Uh, Callie?" I turned my head to face hers._

"_Yeah?" she intertwined our fingers, and looked back at me._

"_I should probably tell you that the moms are back from the concert, right?"_

"_What?" she screeched, lurching upright "you didn't think to tell me this earlier?"_

"_Well we've only been awake for 10 minutes!"_

"_What if they see me here Brandon? I thought you understood that I can't risk this for Jude!"_

"_Why are you so afraid Callie?" I spoke softly as her eyes filled to the brim with tears that threatened to fall past the dark lashes that surrounded molted brown orbs. "My mom's won't send you anywhere, you know that"_

"_Do I Brandon? Do I really know that? What if they think I'm a bad influence, what if they sand me away? What if they sand Jude away?"_

"_Callie, look at me" I lifted her chin up, about to repeat my question, "Why are you so afraid?"_

"_What if I tell you and you don't want me anymore?" with my hand cradling her jaw, and tears leaking from her eyes, she looked like a fragile rose bud, and with the right coaxing, maybe I could help it bloom._

"_I guarantee you that will never happen"_

_She took a long shaky breath and slowly started unraveling her tales, every moment of sorrow and intrusion that was forced on her by Liam Olmstead, and every fight she fought to make sure that her brother never had to face the hardships that she went through. By the end of her story I felt no regret for loving her, I didn't want to take back I single second I spent with her, but I would give it all up, if she could just erase her past, have her mother back, and have saved that tiny piece of innocence she still had left._

"_Callie Jacobs, how could you ever think that telling me the truth would turn me away?"_

"_How can I think it wouldn't, Brandon?" she wiped away the rogue tears, "You are such a good guy, you are talented and smart and cute and I've never met anyone who has the capability of being as caring as you are?"_

"_You think I'm cute?" I started grinning like a fool, despite the severity of what we had discussed seconds ago._

"_I take back smart"_

"_Sorry Calls, no take-backs" _

_She poked me in the stomach and gaped at my cheekiness._

"_That's not fair!"_

"_Well Calls, the world's an imperfect place!"_

"_Shut up you moron" she lifted one leg to the other side of me and I thought she was going to kiss me, so I wrapped an arm around her waist, but with the arm also came a quizzical look, so I surmised that I was doing something wrong._

"_Aren't you going to let me get up?"_

_I kept my arm slung around her and acted as if I was genuinely weighing my options; I opted for a sweet and simple response, "Nope."_

_A short giggle burst from her lips and her eyes- still red and swollen from crying- glimmered with amusement. She tried to wrestle her way out of my grasp, but we both ended up in a heap on the floor under my sheets, which was strangely reminiscent of when I used to grapple with Jesus for the blankets on movie night._

_Lying there, I decided to ask my rather ill-timed question._

"_Callie, did you ever report what he did to you?"_

_She instantly sobered up, "I figured, even if I did tell somebody, it's not like they would ever believe me, the Olmstead's sure didn't"_

"_You should really consider it, I know moms would understand, and I could go get the forms from the station tomorrow" she didn't look convinced at my persuasive argument, so I threw in a low blow, "We need to make sure that the other girl living there doesn't get hurt Calls, telling the moms is best, at the very least there will be a file made on him and his family won't be able to foster again."_

_She looked at me, and slowly nodded, "Should we tell them today?"_

"_As soon as possible" I agreed with her._

_We finally decided that it was in our best interests to get up, with the family back, and Jesus probably looming over our shoulder 24/7, we might have to exercise our more creative sides in order for us to get any face time… I guess we're back to the ho-hum-happy foster siblings that we were yesterday._

You could probably cut through the tension in the kitchen with a knife, Callie and I both ducked our heads and resumed our breakfasts, pretending that we were impervious to the stares we were getting from the heads of the table.

"So how was the poetry slam?" I asked Mariana, hoping that the babbling of the Latina would relieve some of the pressure.

"It was fine. Brandon." Stef answered for her. "So were you ever going to tell us?"

From across the table I could see Callie freeze in exact synchronicity with me.

"Uh, what do you mean, mom?" panic was setting in, and my nervous habit of shaking my left knee was starting up, if you listened closely, you could probably hear my heel hammering against the wooden frame of the stool.

"You know what I mean young man!" mom was using her slightly taken aback look paired with the slight tilt backwards, so I calmed down a bit. That was the look that mom had given me when I ate the cookie dough from the fridge when I was seven. She was never actually mad about it until later that night when she and Lena realised they were spending the next two days taking care of a sick kid.

"Um… no I don't think I do… care to share?"

"You broke up with Talya!" Lena burst out, "When did you think you were going to tell us you dumped your girlfriend of three years?"

Suddenly everything clicked in my head, the taken-aback-tilt from mom and the silence from the kitchen which was the absence of Lena's voice.

"Well, shouldn't you be happy about that? You never liked her anyways."

Seeing each member of the families face fall as if their deep dark secret was let out was mildly satisfying, but when mom started choking on her food I really started laughing at the ridiculous lot.

"H-how? How did you know? It was our best kept secret!" mom sputtered out, Lena patting her on the back and helping her recover.

I shook my head and finished with breakfast, now that the scare was over, I was planning my tactics in pulling the moms away to talk to Callie.

I looked at her over the table as a thought came into my head, "After breakfast?" I mouthed to her.

She nodded and put her dishes in the sink, me following suit.

We sat back down at our places and waited for the twins and Jude to filter out.

When it was just the two of us I coughed lightly, trying to draw their attention.

"Callie and me have something to tell you"

**By the way, I know I messed up on the timeline a bit, but I wall fix it as soon as I can! (I tried making up for that with a long chapter!) See you guys soon! (I mean that! I just found out that one of my co-workers has one of them portable internet-connection sticks! Which means that if I get some really nice support on this chapter I'll post one within the week!)**


	6. Compare to Her

**Hey there strangers, how have you been?**

**So here is my first chapter in about a month or so, and I feel really bad about that. But as you read this chapter, I hope you find a way to forgive me, and let's not forget to enjoy all the hot Brandon defensiveness that I have stuffed in here!**

**This chapter is also dedicated to 1fannessiegal, in honor of a really courageous act that I commend her for.**

**Be weary, there is a surprise waiting for you in this chapter!**

I realized something wasn't right, I didn't quite know what, but that little voice in the back of my head that resembled my mother's was screaming at me warning me against something, but it was like listening to it through a brick wall, which -if you've ever been in a situation like that- doesn't translate very well.

It had appeared from the moment that Lena mentioned my break-up with my infamous ex: Talya. The voice had been there and stayed there, but I figured that it was best just to put that voice in a metal cage and get on with the situation at hand. Which was the Callie finally telling somebody about Liam, and making sure that the bastard got behind bars… but more importantly, that the girl, who was now in Callie's position, went to a better home.

So as the moms perched themselves on the dining room table straight across from us, and glanced at each other in anticipation and worry, I clasped Callie's hand in mind, and gave her an encouraging nod.

My mom saw the clear anxiety that Callie was feeling and she reached to cover Callie's free hand, which was on the table top, with her own.

"Callie? C'mon love, what is this about?" Mom tried to coax her into speaking. It was the voice I had heard a million times, at the police station when she was talking to a victim, it was the same tone that she had used when Mariana and Jesus first arrived at our home… when they didn't trust us yet.

Callie didn't know this voice though; it was different from the usual hard-ass woman she admired. She took a deep breath and her chest raised shakily, her head ducked low.

"About two years ago I was living with a really nice foster family" her hand was clutching mine as if it were a life line. "And while I was there, the son of the couple… well, he took a special interest in me."

Her hand started to loosen and tremble over mine. She leaned towards me.

"I can't do this Brandon" she whispered in my ear, "I just can't."

I pulled her chair closer to mine, and she winced at the sound as it dragged across the hardwood floor.

I put a hand on her back, careful not to display any other emotions but that of a worried older brother. My Moms exchanged a look, and I couldn't quite read their faces before Callie started again.

"Well, this boy, he used to take Jude and I out to movies, and buy us whatever candy or popcorn we wanted… he treated us as if we were his real siblings." I started rubbing small circles in her back, "Then one day, he found out that I had already watched the movie he wanted to take me to… so he convinced his parents to take Jude out while he hung out with me back home."

"We had fun; he took me for ice cream… But then a few weeks later when Jude and my foster parents were outside, he came up to me in the kitchen." I could see the scene was playing out in her mind while she retold the story. "He started running his hand along my arm, and whispering about how thin I was, and how he liked my hair."

"I could feel the cool counter when he pressed me back, lifting the edge of my shirt, but before he could do anything more I ran back outside"

Lena and Mom interlocked their hands on the table, all color gone from their faces.

"Then that night-" She choked, and buried her head in my shirt, the tears were like hailstones, probably leaving stains. I didn't care; all I knew was that this amazing, wonderfully flawed girl with the worst of luck had to tell the people she finally grew to care about, about something that she believed would have them ship her off.

I heard the whirr and clicking in their minds as it finally seeped in and struck them, they both let out small gasps.

"Callie, love, how old were you?"

"She was thirteen, Mom"

Tears sprung to her and Lena's eyes, their faces creased and seemed to have aged centuries as they bared the weight of this news. Lena's rich, dark skin was ravaged by tears and my Mom's bottom lip trembled as she tried to keep from crumbling.

Callie had stopped crying into my shirt, but I held her close anyways. My chin was propped against the top of her head.

The knock that came at the door echoed through the house. I was suddenly glad the rest of the family wasn't here to witness this, the two pillars of strength falling; Callie rendered helpless, as her brother had never seen her before.

Both moms got up to answer; Lena wiped a tear away again and pulled open the heavy oak. Both of their eyes widened in shock as a red-head tore through the front entrance, and stopped in front of the table. Callie finally looked up and saw Talya standing over her.

"You slut!" she screamed at Callie. "That is my boyfriend!"

Oh sweet Josephine.

"Talya? What are you doing here?" she didn't answer. She swayed on the spot then gripped the table tightly, leaning closer to Callie; she was starting to make me nervous.

"You _bitch_!" she seethed from between her clenched jaw. Her eyed burned holes where my hand had slipped to just on the curve of my girlfriend's hip. "You are such a _slut_"

The air grew tense and everybody's eyes darkened with the want of ripping the pale-skinned girl to shreds.

Talya launched herself at Callie, but the moms had prophesized her next move and were already restraining her from behind.

"I hate you! You stole my life" she yelled, "why don't you just go back to your precious Liam?"

My eyes became steely, unforgiving. My thoughts were hazy and my sight was blurry.

I stood up abruptly, and pulled Callie behind me. I leaned closer to Talya.

"_You_ are the bitch." I whispered, jabbing a finger into her chest. "_You_ are the slut."

She stumbled back in shock, her mouth hanging open, surprised. I was too.

"You think that I don't know you can control everything with sex? Why do you think I ended this with you?" I couldn't even think straight now, disbelief and rage overcame all my senses. "_You_ go through Callie's journal! _You_ hoar around at parties and _you_ don't even care! You didn't ever love me Tayla! You couldn't love me, you can't love anyone! Because _you_ are a _heartless bitch_!

I was too far gone to think about what I was saying now.

"Get out of my family's home! Get out of my family's lives! And don't even _think_ about getting near my family!"

Without any further thought I grasped her by the arm and dragged her towards the door, shoved her onto the front porch and slammed the door shut on her slack-jawed face.

* * *

I lay on my bed, rubbing the worn edges of the picture of me and Callie covered in flour. So much had happened because of this little picture. Looking at it now it seemed so ridiculous. How could I so easily put my life in such a petit brunettes hands? All these years of safely guarding all my innermost thoughts and feelings, were just discarded as if in never mattered. And it never did matter.

After the incident with Talya, the moms decided it was best to just sleep of all the excitement of today. But my bed felt empty without her. Without her warmth or soft breaths when she was in the deepest part of her slumber.

I slid out of bed and slipped out of my room, not bothering with a shirt. I tip-toed across the hall way towards Mariana and Callie's room, where I found my girl still awake, the dull orange glow from a light illuminated the space around her, but didn't dare creep across to Mariana's side of the room. I heard the scrawling of a pen writing in synchronicity with her motions.

The rustling on her paper and she turned pages was a comforting sound, that had grown to be the last thing I heard before I drifted out of consciousness every night.

It took her a moment to notice me, but when she finally saw me peer out from the doorway, she bared no resemblance of surprise, not in the faintest. A small smile appeared on both of our faces as she put her stationary on the bedside table and opened the sheets to me, inviting me to crawl in.

We lay side by side, intertwined until we were a tangle of limbs, she drifted to sleep quickly and I knew that I was soon to follow.

I reached an arm out of bed and switched off the light, now we only bathed in the white light of the moon, and I realized that, though Callie's hair wasn't a rich cacophony of color, while her lips weren't seductress red, although her eyes anything but a luminescent green, exempt of walking with exuberant confidence, nothing could compare to the simple beauty that she possessed.

Nothing could compare to her.

**Thank you guys for being patient, and I totally love you for that. This chapter took forever to get just right, and I now realize that I have no idea what to do after this! I really want to continue this story, but at the moment this entire fandom is being converted into this horrible, depressing, demoralizing crap! I always thought that I was above this, but I'm going to ask, and please do answer: What would you like to happen next?**

**And can anybody name the sonnet that Brandon's thoughts on Callie were an homage to?**


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